Biggles Flies East
Bigges Flies East by W. E. Johns was published in by Oxford University Press in August 1935. It was subsequently serialised in The Modern Boy issues 399 to 412 from 28th September 1935 to 28th December 1935. The book is notable for being the first appearance of Erich von Stalhein. It was also the first book length Johns story of Biggles in the WW1. Synopsis Biggles, on leave in London, is mistaken for another officer and offered a chance to fight on the side of the German forces. British intelligence wants him to accept the offer and soon Biggles finds himself in Palestine, a member of the German intelligence service and pitted against a deadly German masterspy who is only known by his codename "El Shereef". Plot Note: The sections below contain spoilers. In particular, the plot subpage (click here) has an extended summary of the narrative in the book Characters *Biggles *Algy Lacey *Major Mullen *Wat Tyler *Major Raymond *Ernest Broglace *Ludgate *Captain Leopold Brunow *Major L. Bryndale *Brigadier-General Sir Malcolm Pendersby *Lieutenant Fraser *Baines *Sheikh Haroun Ibn Said *Ali Ben Sadoum *Karl Leffens *Erich von Stalhein *Otto Brandt *Mayer *Count von Faubourg *Hauptmann Kurt Hess *Schmidt *Bronveld *Oberleutnant Kranz *Karl *Greichbach Aircraft *Sopwith Pup *Bristol Fighter *F.E.2d *Sopwith Camel *Pfalz - probably a D.II or D.IIa *Pfalz D.III *Halberstadt *R.E.8 *B.E.2C Ships Places Visited *London **Caprice Restaurant **Hotel Cecil *France **Maranique **Paris **Marseilles *Palestine **Heliopolis **Kantara **Zabala **Abba Sud **Sidi Arish **Jebel Tel **Jebel Hind **Gadala **Wadi Baroud **Pauta **Jebel Zaloud Mentioned *London **Alhambra Research Notes *Aerial victories of Biggles and friends: Biggles 2, Algy 1 *There are multiple mentions of spinning and in Chatper 10, Biggles applies the correct spin recovery technique to his Halberstadt after his pilot, Mayer, was incapacitated and the aircraft had entered an uncontrolled spin. References to the past *General Pendersby mentions that Major Raymond had spoken highly of Biggles who had done a number of intelligence missions for him before. Incongruities *Chapter 13. "He found Algy examining the Halberstadt with professional interest...." Biggles had flown there in a Pfalz! *Chapter 21. "Clear-cut through the still morning air, far away over the German side of the lines, came the sound...." Obviously Johns had to make the site of von Stalhein's crash far away, to preculde anyone examining the wreckage for his body. But he had just taken off from Kantara, which, being the site of British General Headauqarters, would have been very far away from the lines. Chronology (see also table at Timeline of the Biggles Stories) *According to Johns in the foreword, Biggles was at the time of the story, a "war-hardened veteran of twelve months' active service in the R.F.C. so this would make it October 1917Ward Powers. "What Happened to Biggles in WW1?" ''Biggles Flies Again'' Vol. 3 No. 1, June 2009. *October 1917 fits the historical context quite well: **Deliveries of the Pfalz D.III to squadrons on the Western Front began around August 1917. To get it in Palestine by October would be considered quite fast. **Von Faubourg mentions "a British attack soon to be launched near Gaza" (chapter 16). This would be a reference to the 3rd Battle of Gaza which took place in early Nov 1917. **It would be true to say that things were going badly in the theatre for the British before this time. The British had lost several battles and there was a stalemate in the Sinai, so much so that General Allenby replaced General Murray in June 1917. After the 3rd Battle of Gaza, the British began to advance rapidly, capturing Jerusalem by December 1917. One might even say Biggles' work in exposing "El Shereef" and Major Sterne led to the remarkable British successes in the months thereafter! *However, in Chapter 1, there is the mention of Biggles' uniform looking distinctly shabby in "London's bright spring sunshine". One researcher notes this and posits an alternative timeframe set in April 1918.Trevor Mason. "The Great German Spring Offensive of 1918" ''Biggles Flies Again'' Vol. 3 No. 12, February 2013. This is the only available spring time with Algy around. March is not feasible as with the German spring offensive still in progress, Biggles would have been unlikely to get leave. *However there are problems with this timeframe as well: **Von Faubourg tells Biggles that Mayer had been sent to a hospital in Jerusalem, but the city had fallen to the British in Dec 1917. **Furthermore, General Allenby was making tremendous progress in his Palestine campaign by 1918 and in no way could it be said that things were going badly for the British. **The Sopwith Pup would also be looking rather long in the tooth by this time. And the Pfalz D.III could not be said to be the latest product of the Pfalz works. It was obsolete and being replaced. *Overall, October-November 1917 is the preferred timeframe for this story. We just have to assume that Johns got the season wrong in Chapter 1! Editions References Category:Books Category:Stub Category:Biggles books Category:World War One era books